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Akikan! (TV).




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Key
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Joined: 03 Nov 2003
Posts: 18459
Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 1:05 pm Reply with quote
Encyclopedia Entry

When I first heard about this thoroughly bizarre twist on what looks like it will be a (harem?) romantic comedy, I just had to check it out. The premise is that special pop cans, called Akikans, exist which can turn into a human girl when drunk from the can, and can turn back into a can when her pop can tab earring is pulled. Their life force depends on there being at least some pop remaining in the can (which can be refilled with pop of the same type) and their vitality is apparently connected to their carbonation level.

Yeah, I said, "huh?" at first, too, but in some ways the concept is actually fairly clever. Drinking from the same can or bottle has long been viewed as indirect kissing amongst youths, which I'm sure is where the concept comes from. (The girl manifests kissing the person who drank her, you see.) Combine that with classic stories about inanimate objects taking on human form and viola! The premise also carries some rather perverse implications, too, such as the disposability of said pop can girl, which the first episode touches on a bit. If the writing explores this more than the series could have some promise.

It looks to be going in a more ribald direction, however. The first episode is a bit edgier than the norm for this kind of series, including an adult male character who's so brazenly and aggressively gay that he has a wall clock which says, "I love men" and another character who's just as openly and aggressively lesbian as well as being a self-proclaimed witch. Sexual innuendo is heavier than the norm, too.

The biggest strikes against the series so far is that its artistry does not impress and character personalities introduced so far are very typical. Brain's Base has done much better work than this. The opener suggests that several more Akikans will be introduced in future episodes, too.

My first impression is that this is going to become just a fairly typical anime romantic comedy with an odd gimmick, but I'm going to give it at least another episode or two to see if it shows me anything more.
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v1cious



Joined: 31 Dec 2002
Posts: 6229
Location: Houston, TX
PostPosted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 4:01 pm Reply with quote
so far it's gotten some pretty horrible reviews from the blogosphere. description sounds pretty weird.
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walw6pK4Alo



Joined: 12 Mar 2008
Posts: 9322
PostPosted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 9:10 pm Reply with quote
I saw that online preview of episode 1. The premise is about as dumb as any other worthless anime out there. I think the only redeemable thing so far is that the protagonist is voiced by Jun Fukuyama, doing his letcherous role voice, like Keita Kawahira from Inukami!. I severely doubt this show will even be a fraction as humorous, but will instead be painful to watch unless under the influence of pain relievers. Shows like this are best overlooked and forgotten once they finish airing.
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Noether



Joined: 20 Dec 2008
Posts: 16
PostPosted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 10:51 pm Reply with quote
It's certainly not great, but from the first episode, it looks like it might be a decent "guilty pleasure" show.
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Westlo



Joined: 03 Oct 2002
Posts: 1684
PostPosted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 2:04 am Reply with quote
This was awfully hilarious, also I don't think there's much point in pointing out the characters are cliche, it's pretty obvious they know that. I mean the Yuri girl is called Yurika and the childhood friend/Osana-Najimi character is called Najima after all.
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pparker



Joined: 13 Oct 2007
Posts: 1185
Location: Florida
PostPosted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 3:00 am Reply with quote
Westlo wrote:
This was awfully hilarious, also I don't think there's much point in pointing out the characters are cliche, it's pretty obvious they know that. I mean the Yuri girl is called Yurika and the childhood friend/Osana-Najimi character is called Najima after all.

Oh, westlo... This is dreck. Dreck... just purely bad, bad, bad anime so far. And don't get me wrong, I just finished marathoning Rosario+Vampire Capu2, having enjoyed in relative degrees To Love RU, Koihime Musou, Sekirei, and Kanokon this year (did I forget any other despised harem/moe/ecchi series? Oh, yeah... I'm still hoping for widescreens before watching Great Guardians Smile ). Obviously, I am not against silly otaku entertainment. I admire any artists and creators and defend their right to make whatever they want, and even try to appreciate it.

But this... oh, the art is truly lousy, the characters are so bad... I feel like Mattel androids wrote them, and drew them as well. If they had included ecchi, THAT would be a saving grace but apparently we're not even getting that. I'm very skeptical that the show can even be watchable after this. Maybe that's harsh, but I watched Maria Holic and Touhou in the same sitting, and OMG the difference!
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furizaa



Joined: 29 Sep 2008
Posts: 78
Location: Texas
PostPosted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 3:22 am Reply with quote
I agree completely with pparker. I just watched this in the same sitting as Maria Holic as well, so maybe it just left a bad taste in my mouth (pun not intended) by comparison, but I felt the quality of the first episode of Akikan was all around bad. I consider myself pretty well versed in harem anime, having seen the same ones pparker listed over the past year, and I'd list Akikan several notches below to say the least.

Maybe it's because of the interesting spin that Key mentioned that made me look forward to this series, but I found the humor, animation, and the characters all very bland and sub-par. That being said, I'm probably being too harsh and expecting more than I should be. I mean, who really watches Rosario+Vampire for plot? Yet I enjoyed the series (most of it) nonetheless. Since there will probably be a few more characters to be introduced, and the story will probably take another episode or two to set up, I'll keep an open mind and continue watching. I have a feeling it will improve more from here.
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gibbage



Joined: 15 Apr 2008
Posts: 63
PostPosted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 4:35 am Reply with quote
I think I will watch a few episodes and see how things go. I found it mildly entertaining, but it could be the post-season blues im suffering. It cant replace Toradora though. =(
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Westlo



Joined: 03 Oct 2002
Posts: 1684
PostPosted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 5:06 am Reply with quote
pparker wrote:
Oh, westlo... This is dreck. Dreck... just purely bad, bad, bad anime so far.


Oh I know it's bad lol but I enjoyed the episode, as soon as I stop enjoying this series I'll drop it since it's awful. As for the shows you mentioned, I really disliked To Love Ru and R+V for being complete failures in manga adaptions. Seikire was a nice watch, Koihime Musou seemed alright from one episode but Kanokon was just flat out bad like Akikan, but didn't have any enjoyment since it wasn't funny but just bad.

furizaa wrote:
I mean, who really watches Rosario+Vampire for plot?


Quite a few people would've if they followed the manga. Personally I'm more annoyed at crap like R+V anime than Akikan because R+V turned a good action manga into complete drivel. Did they even turn Tsukune into a ghoul at the end of season 2? Sigh at the best chapter in the manga by far not even being touched, when Inner Moka was going to kill an out of control ghoul Tsukune.
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pparker



Joined: 13 Oct 2007
Posts: 1185
Location: Florida
PostPosted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 2:43 pm Reply with quote
Westlo wrote:
pparker wrote:
Oh, westlo... This is dreck. Dreck... just purely bad, bad, bad anime so far.

Oh I know it's bad lol but I enjoyed the episode...

Ha. I just had to say it, considering we seem to agree a lot.

Westlo wrote:
I really disliked To Love Ru and R+V for being complete failures in manga adaptions. Seikire was a nice watch, Koihime Musou seemed alright from one episode but Kanokon was just flat out bad like Akikan, but didn't have any enjoyment since it wasn't funny but just bad.

Yeah, I almost ditched Sekirei immediately because I hated the designs, but the story turned out okay. Kanokon was was just ecchi, but I will watch Koihime Musou again as it had some substance.

Westlo wrote:
...when Inner Moka was going to kill an out of control ghoul Tsukune.

Wow, now that I would pay to see! I have avoided manga for the most part because anime is already too much time and money, and I'm a film person first, but I may check that one out.
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G-mofactor



Joined: 11 Jun 2008
Posts: 797
Location: Atlantis to Interzone
PostPosted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 4:22 pm Reply with quote
I am contemplating in continuing to watch this anime, and I haven't kept in touch to my friend overseas whether or not its really a worth-while show. However, his opinion in the end doesn't really matter.
As far as I could tell, its the kind of anime where I would watch it in a boring day, or early in the morning when there is time to kill. Its quite an enjoyable show to pass the time with a chuckle. Its not too innovative as I could tell to earn a bit of my devotion into watching it, but well enough to put as a back-burner.
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